Hair of the Dog That Bit You
by Mikauzoran
Summary: Kaito gets suckered into attending one of the Taskforce's crazy after-parties and winds up having one drink too many. Luckily, Hakuba is there to take care of the intoxicated magician…and end up getting a little something extra for his trouble.


Mikau: Hey there! Thanks so much for taking the time to look into my work. This one is something I came up with while practicing with prompts. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, all of the subtle homosexual undertones between the characters of Magic Kaito wouldn't be so subtle. Anyone ever notice how Aoko blushes whenever Akako's around or how Nakamori-keibu and Kid always flirt? And don't even get me started on Kaito and Hakuba. There's more support for the same-sex couples in canon than there is for the straight couples. If you disagree, go back and read the manga again.

…

"_So this is what being drunk feels like,"_ Kaito sighed to himself as he watched the beer foam. _"Drunk, drunk, drunk,"_ he mentally sang as the Taskforce members around him laughed and did various victory dances and cheers. They had thwarted Kid's attempts on a certain Egyptian necklace.

Kaito had been sneaking away with his tail between his legs when some of the officers recognized him in the crowd and invited him to celebrate with them. Kaito hadn't intended to drink anything, but Japanese peer pressure was a scary thing, and even _Hakuba_ was drinking, so Kaito had conceded to drinking one glass of beer.

Even one glass turned out to be one too many, and with his defenses down he was easily talked into a second drink and then a third. After that he'd lost count. Now he couldn't even lift his head off the table.

"_Soooo drunk,"_ he sighed. He wasn't even a happy drunk.

The beer foamed at him out of spite.

"_Why the hell not?"_ He reached out for the glass, intending to drain it so that it would stop laughing at him. Only he couldn't quite get a hold of it. His depth perception was off, and his motor skills were failing him at the moment.

"I think you've had enough, Kuroba," Hakuba Saguru stated gently, picking up the glass and setting it down out of Kaito's reach.

"Ez how?" Kaito snapped. _"The hell was that? That didn't even sound remotely like 'Says who?'"_

Hakuba blinked, tried to decipher Kaito's speech, gave up, and began helping his friendly rival to his feet. "Time to go home, Kuroba. Shall I escort you, or would you prefer that your mother come to collect you?"

Kaito tried to convey the fact that his house was empty at the moment because his mother was away on business, but he just couldn't manage to make the syllables string together in the correct order.

Thankfully Nakamori-keibu chimed in, "His mom's not home. Leave him be. I'll take him home with me at the end of the night."

"And how many hours more will that be?" Hakuba scoffed, trying hard to keep Kaito on his feet, but basically bearing all of Kaito's weight himself. "Besides, it's not fair to Aoko-kun, having to look after two drunks. I'll look after him."

"Suit yourself." Nakamori shrugged, going back to his nth glass of alcohol.

"Let's get you some fresh air while we wait for our ride, Kuroba," Saguru sighed, adjusting his hold on Kaito before picking the smaller boy up and carrying him bridal style.

Kaito made a mental note to completely forget about all of this. It was just too embarrassing.

A car came around, and Kaito was put in the back seat with the window down and Hakuba seated right next to him for support.

"Bocchama?" Hakuba's caretaker raised an eyebrow at the extra passenger.

"Kuroba's mother isn't home, so I'm going to take care of him instead. The Taskforce really showed no mercy, and it doesn't appear that Kuroba is a very strong drinker. It would be irresponsible and dangerous even to leave him alone at the moment," Saguru explained, making sure that Kuroba was fastened in properly.

Baaya smiled proudly at her boy. "You're a good man, Saguru."

The detective shrugged. "You raised me right."

"I did, didn't I?" the matronly woman laughed, turning out onto the road.

…

As soon as they arrived at the Hakuba manor, Saguru helped Kaito out of the car, but the magician was still seeing in triplicate and unable to make it from the car to the front door. Saguru scooped him up once more and carried him into the living-room, setting him on the couch.

"Bathroom," Kaito managed to choke, and Saguru quickly obliged, getting him to the toilet just in time.

Hakuba stayed there with him, rubbing his back, neck, and shoulders while he hung over the toilet.

When the heaving ceased, Hakuba handed Kaito a paper cup filled with water. "To rinse your mouth out," he explained.

Kaito nodded his thanks and tried to take the cup, but he couldn't figure out which one was the real cup and which two were just the fuzzy afterimages.

"Here." Saguru held the cup up to Kaito's lips for him and wiped his mouth with a warm washcloth.

After the magician had been cleaned up, Saguru helped him to his feet, and the duo staggered back to the living-room.

"Doing okay, Kuroba?" Saguru asked softly.

"Tanks," Kaito mumbled, his opinion of the detective quickly changing.

Saguru lowered Kaito down onto the couch and propped him up with pillows. "I'm going to get you something to eat to help absorb some of the alcohol. Will you be okay on your own for a minute?"

"Un," Kaito struggled to respond.

As promised, Hakuba promptly returned with onigiri, pan, and a bottle of water. "Let's start with the bread. It's got red beans in it—is that okay?"

Kaito nodded, reaching out to take the bread, but his depth perception was still screwy.

"Here. I'll feed you," Saguru offered, unwrapping the bread and holding it up to Kaito's mouth.

Kaito blushed profusely—hopefully Hakuba just thought the extra color in his cheeks was caused by the alcohol—but obediently took a few bites.

Once he'd gotten that down, Saguru took the cap off the water bottle and held it up to Kaito's lips. "Alcohol will dehydrate you like nothing else. Take a few sips, if you can."

After Kaito had done as bid, Saguru held up the onigiri. "Want to try a few bites of this? There's no fish in it, I promise."

Kaito nodded. "Thanks."

"My pleasure." Hakuba gave a friendly smile as he held the rice ball out for Kaito to eat.

Kaito was able to take it and eat it himself, albeit a little messily.

"Feeling a little better now that you have something besides alcohol in your stomach?"

Kaito nodded, surprised that he was sobering up so quickly. Well, he still couldn't see straight, talk straight, or walk straight, but at least he was feeling a little better.

"Do you think you could make it up the stairs, Kuroba, so that we can get ready for bed?"

"Yeah." With Hakuba's help, Kaito was able to get up and stumble his way over to the staircase and up the steps.

Hakuba helped him to the bed, and Kaito was able to sit up by himself while Saguru searched for some suitable night clothes for his guest. "D-Do you need help getting dressed?"

Kaito blushed but nodded.

"I do suppose those buttons would be a little difficult to manage while intoxicated," Hakuba mused, sitting down on the bed beside his classmate and starting on the button-down shirt.

Once the shirt was unbuttoned, Kaito easily slid it off and put on the nightshirt Hakuba had provided.

The pants were trickier and a great deal more awkward, but with much blushing, muttered apologies, and averting of eyes, they got Kaito dressed and in bed.

"Is there anything more I can do for you?" Hakuba asked after turning out the light but before getting into bed himself.

Kaito motioned him closer. And closer. And closer still until Kaito leaned forward and placed a butterfly kiss on Saguru's lips.

Without saying a word, the magician closed his eyes, rolled over onto his side so that his back was to the detective, and pulled the covers over his head.

Saguru's face felt like it was on fire. He blinked twice, putting a hand to his lips.

"_He's drunk. He's incredibly, unbelievably drunk,"_ the sleuth reminded himself as he quietly walked across the room and slipped under the covers on the couch.

…

The next morning, Kaito had a migraine. He tossed and turned in bed, trying to get back to sleep so that he wouldn't have to be awake for the pain, but he was largely unsuccessful.

Around ten in the morning, Hakuba came in with a breakfast tray—bacon and eggs on toast with coffee. "Good morning, Kuroba. How are you doing? Baaya made you her special hangover cure."

"God, I need it," the magician grumbled, struggling to sit up. "Thanks, Hakuba."

"My pleasure." The Brit smiled pleasantly as he set down the tray.

"No. I mean it," Kaito stressed. "Thank you. For everything. I'm sorry to be such a bother. Thank you for going out of your way for me like that. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, but…Kuroba, you're my friend. You're not a bother," Saguru assured with a gentle smile.

"Thanks for considering me your friend." Kaito returned the smile.

Then something occurred to him.

"Oh, yeah, hey…um…I kissed you last night…."

Hakuba's face turned bright red. "Oh? Did you? I don't remember. I was drunk."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "No. That was me. I was completely sloshed last night, and I remember, so that means that you remember too."

"What about it, Kuroba?" Hakuba shifted uncomfortably.

"I was drunk, so that one doesn't count." Kaito shrugged, leaning forward and kissing the detective. "…but that one _does_."

"O-Oh. R-Really?" Saguru stuttered.

"Yeah. Think about it." Kaito winked, taking a big bite of the loaded toast.

Saguru nodded and gulped, "I will." before beating a hasty retreat to the study. How could he not think about it? He'd already been thinking about the first kiss the entire night.

The

End

…

Y (*^^)oⱯ*Ɐo(^^*)

Mikau: It's a martini glass! (No, seriously. I'm not just being lazy.) And the little emot people are drinking a toast. Anyway, what did you think of the story? I had fun with this one. Well, I usually have fun, but still. Please drop me a line or two on your way out. Your feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks a bunch in advance, and take care until we meet again!


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